


Affection (Dean Ambrose/AJ Styles FanFiction)

by PunkRock13



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Depression, Gay Male Character, Happy Ending, M/M, WWE - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-07 11:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7713943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunkRock13/pseuds/PunkRock13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is left distraught after the break up of the Shield. Can the newest member of WWE save him from his pained mind?</p><p>Set in 2014, but AJ is there.</p><p>Dean Ambrose/AJ Styles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Affection - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to ambreigns_asylum14 (On Wattpad) for giving me the storyline/idea for this fanfic! Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! Short intro, other chapters will be longer. Let me know if you have any ideas for this story, it would be really appreciated.

Traitor.

That's the only word that Dean could process, as he thought about the events of the previous night. How could Seth be so selfish and cruel? Was Dean not good enough for him?

Seth knew about Dean's feelings towards him, but that didn't stop the two toned bastard from smashing a steel chair against his brother's back. Obviously he didn't share Dean's fantasy of love.

The word 'brother' disgusted Dean. Seth was no longer his brother. He didn't deserve that title. Roman was his brother. Roman would never double cross Dean. He was loyal. Dean just wished that Seth could have been loyal too.

But what's done is done. Dean can't mope around over it forever. He's got work to do.

As Dean got into bed, he realized how upset he really was. He was alone. Seth used to cuddle up with him, even though they were never together. It was a comfort kind of thing. But that comfort had left the moment the cold steel connected with Dean's stomach.

__________

AJ watched the TV in shock. How could Seth do something like that? Seth had been a friend of his for a long time, almost ten years, but he had never done anything bad in his life. He was an angel. What had possessed him to betray his brothers?

AJ knew for a fact that he would be having a word with Seth once he joined the company. He was set to debut in a week. Maybe he could talk to Dean and make sure he was okay. He looked rather hurt tonight.

The shock of it all was still in AJ's head. What had the Authority done to Seth Rollins? That guy is stubborn, he wouldn't just turn on his brothers for a small bribe.

There had to be something going on and AJ was going to get to the bottom of it. For Seth, for Roman but mostly, for Dean.


	2. There's never air to breathe - Part 2

1 week later.

AJ finally made his debut after what felt like a really long week of waiting. The number one thing on his mind, after his match, was finding Seth and talking to him. He wanted to find out what was going on.

AJ searched around the entire arena, asking everyone he saw if they had seen Seth, but there was no luck. Seth's promo had been scheduled before AJ's match so there was a slight chance that he had already left the arena.

Something didn't seem right though. Back in the indies, Seth would always stay until the end of the show, no matter when his match was. A lot had changed since then.

The Authority (Triple H, Kane and Randy Orton) were just entering their office, when AJ caught sight of them. If anyone knew where Seth was, it would be them.

AJ managed to get Hunter's attention, before he closed the office door. At the sight of the newcomer, Hunter hurried back out into the corridor and shut the door behind him. He was acting very secretive.

"Hello AJ, it's nice to finally have you here in WWE. What can I do for you?" Triple H asked.

"Thank you Hunter, I was just wondering if you knew where Seth is? I haven't seen him yet and I thought it would be nice to catch up with him." AJ replied.

"I'm afraid he's not here. He left earlier, saying he needed to rest. His schedule has been crazy lately."

"I understand, thanks for letting me know." AJ smiled, knowing Hunter was lying.

"No problem, I'm always here to help." Hunter quickly entered his office and closed the door, before AJ could look into the room.

It was obvious that Hunter was lying. He was acting very sceptical. If he had to guess, AJ would say that Seth was in the Authority's office right now. For some reason they didn't want anyone talking to him.

Although he was disappointed, AJ walked away knowing that he wouldn't be able to speak to Seth today. The next person on his list was Dean.

Dean was a lot easier to find. He was in his locker room that he shared with Roman however, the Samoan wasn't currently with him.

Dean was sitting on the bench, staring at the brick wall on the other side of the room. He didn't notice AJ standing at the door, nor did he notice the fact that the show had ended and he was free to leave the arena.

He had been sitting on the bench ever since his match had finished. He was just so overwhelmed by everything to the point where he had shut down for a few hours.

"Dean?" AJ said quietly, slowly walking into the room and shutting the door. He didn't want to startle the younger man.

"Dean?" AJ spoke again, a little louder this time. Dean still didn't acknowledge him.

AJ walked over to Dean's side and sat down next to him. The younger man continued to stare at the wall with no emotion on his face. It was like he was sleeping with his eyes open. He was completely oblivious to the world.

"Hey Dean." AJ greeted. "I'm AJ, it's nice to meet you."

Dean simply blinked and sighed.

"I'm guessing you don't want to talk?" AJ asked. Dean nodded his head. "Okay, well I just thought I'd introduce myself, and also the shows over now and everyone's leaving." AJ smiled.

"Thanks." Dean whispered. The small sound sent a wave of comfort through AJ's body. He had never experienced something like that before.

"You're welcome." AJ stood up. "I'll see you around."

On his way to the car park, AJ bumped into Roman. He knew that Roman was a good friend of Dean's, so he thought he would talk to him and see what was going on.

"Hey Roman." AJ greeted.

"Oh hey man, what's up? It's nice to finally meet you." Roman smiled, shaking AJ's hand.

"Thanks, you too. I was just wondering if you knew what was up with Dean? I saw him just now and he was acting all spaced out. He kind of looked sad, y'know?" 

"Yeah, he's just a bit tired. Overworked and all that, but he'll be good in a few days. Thanks for the concern though, he'd really appreciate that." Roman replied.

"No problem man, take care." AJ smiled.

"You too."

Once AJ got into his car, he thought about what Roman said. He was most likely telling the truth. Dean was probably overworked and tired. That's what happens in this business, but AJ couldn't seem to shake the feeling that there was something else to it. Something darker.

__________

Roman entered his shared locker room and saw that Dean was still in his ring gear, staring at the wall. He could see why AJ was concerned.

"Come on, man." Roman sighed. "We gotta get to the hotel. Get changed."

Dean stood up and grabbed his bag. He didn't see the point in getting changed right now. He would only be taking his clothes off once he got back to the hotel. Why waste clean clothes?

Roman understood that Dean was ready to leave and he didn't question the fact that he was still in his ring gear. It had become a regular thing recently. Ever since the breakup of the Shield, Dean had been all over the place.

He didn't know if Dean and Seth were an item before the split, but Roman knew for sure that they had something secret going on. They had to be more than just friends.

Once the two men got back to the hotel, Dean took off his clothes and got into bed. He had become really lazy over the past week.

"Are you gonna shower?" Roman asked, but he got no reply. "Okay, whatever." Roman sighed. He was becoming slightly annoyed by Dean's behaviour. The guy was his best friend, his brother and he would do anything for him, but right now he just couldn't deal with his strange attitude.

Roman showered and got into bed. Dean looked like he was sleeping, but every now and then Roman heard a small sniffle coming from the younger man's nose.


	3. Secrets revealed - Part 3

The day had been normal so far. AJ went to the gym, went to work, won his match and made some new friends.

He was still concerned for Dean, which shocked him a bit, because he had only met him once and they didn't exactly talk to each other. The vacant look on Dean's face just made AJ wonder what was really going on.

Dean must be going through a lot of problems right now. Things that were worse than tiredness and stress. It was the only way to explain the hurt look in his eyes.

AJ was on his way out of the arena when he heard the unmistakable voice of a long, lost friend. Seth. His laugh was easy to recognise. A slight cackle with a squeak at the end.

AJ turned the corner to see Seth stood next to Triple H. No, he was up close to Hunter's body, his hands around the CEO's neck. It was a very flirtatious pose. It looked as if the two men were acting out a scene from a love movie.

As unusual as it was, AJ knew that it was real. It was easy to tell that the two men were no longer friends. They were more than that. Partners, lovers.

Just as AJ was about to walk away, back towards the exit, Hunter leaned in towards Seth and placed his lips onto the younger man's. AJ was in shock. The sight he was seeing explained a lot.

Seth must have left the Shield in order to be with Hunter. Maybe it was a way to show his love for the older boss. It made sense. Seth was a young man who would do anything for the person he loved, including betraying his closest friends. Hunter had him wrapped around his finger.

The first thing AJ did, once he finally left the arena, was travel to the hotel and find Roman's room. For some reason he wanted to tell the Samoan about what he saw. Maybe Roman would realize that Seth meant no harm. He was just deeply in love.

AJ thought about telling Dean, but decided against it. He wasn't in the right mindset at the moment. Hearing Seth's name would probably upset him even further.

It turned out that Roman was sharing a room with Dean, so the two older men stepped out into the hallway and closed the door.

"So, what's up man?" Roman asked, leaning against the door.

"Well, I saw something today and I thought that maybe you should know about it. I was gonna tell Dean, but he seems too upset at the moment."

"Just spit it out, dude." Roman laughed.

"On my way out of the arena I saw Seth." AJ sighed.

"Ok, and?" Roman was confused as to why AJ was telling him this.

"He was with Hunter and, well, I don't know how to say this in any other way so I'm just gonna say it how it is." AJ rambled. "They were kissing."

At first there was silence, but then Roman began to laugh.

"Really? Man, I didn't see that coming." 

"I guess, but he's always been into older men. You should have seen him in the indies, he went through all the oldies." AJ laughed.

"Wait, hang on a minute." Roman said, with a questioning look on his face. "You're an oldie, compared to Seth, did you two ever... y'know?"

"Oh um, no, I mean - nothing serious, just like um. Anyway, back to the point." AJ stuttered.

"You totally did." Roman smirked. 

"Shut up." AJ felt really awkward. "Look, I think the reason why Seth 'broke up' the Shield, was because he was head over heals for Hunter. I don't think he was doing it to hurt you guys. He was just in a love trance. Still is."

"It makes sense." Roman sighed. "But it doesn't really change much. I'm still mad at him."

"That's understandable."

The door to the hotel room opened and Dean made his way into the hallway. He looked rough.

Dean had known that AJ was in the hallway and he wondered whether or not he should apologize for the previous day. He had straight up ignored the older man, which was very rude. AJ probably thought he was a jerk.

When he opened the door, the look on AJ's face made it seem like him and Roman were talking about stuff Dean wasn't supposed to hear.

"Hey Dean, you feeling better today?" AJ asked, a concerned smiled on his face.

"Um, yeah." Dean mumbled, looking at the ground, hardly heard by the two older men. "Sorry for yesterday."

"What do you mean?" AJ asked. Dean hadn't done anything wrong. He had nothing to apologize for.

"For like, ignoring you and stuff. Sorry."

"Don't worry man, you don't have to apologize for that. Everyone has their off days. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be left alone." AJ smiled.

"Um thanks. S-see you later." Dean waved slightly, entering the hotel room and closing the door behind him.

After a few seconds, AJ got the courage to speak.

"Seriously Roman, what's wrong with Dean? I'm worried about him, I've never seen anyone this upset before." AJ asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." Roman sighed. "Ever since Seth ditched us for the Authority, he's been off. He won't talk to anyone, apart from a few small words. I think he had a thing for Seth, y'know? They were alway really close."

"Man, that sucks. Now that I think about it, Dean could be going through heartbreak."

"Maybe, but we won't know for sure unless he tells us." Roman replied.

"Yeah. Well, I better get going. It's late." AJ sighed. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see ya." Roman smiled, heading back into the hotel room.

Dean was once again laying silently in his bed, not moving. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want attention.

Roman was really starting to worry for his friend. He had never seen him like this before. He was once the light of the party, the crazy, eccentric, Dean Ambrose. But now he was only a shell of his past self.

"Goodnight, Dean." Roman whispered, turning off the bedside lamp and closing his eyes. He was once again met with silence.


	4. Secretly awake in your presence - Part 4

The next day AJ awoke early and made his way to the hotel gym. There were no people in the gym when he got there, so he started his peaceful workout. 

AJ couldn't help but to think about Dean. Did he really have a crush on Seth? It would make sense, since they were always so close but that could just mean they were best friends. AJ still felt sorry for Dean. He looked upset all of the time.

Towards the end of his workout, AJ spotted someone entering the gym. He was quite shocked because it was still very early and most people would be asleep right now. Once the person walked further into the gym, AJ realized who it was.

"Seth." AJ called out with a huge smile on his face. Seth looked up, slightly confused as to who was calling his name, but a smile made it's way onto his face when he saw the older man.

"Hey man." Seth greeted, walking over to AJ and giving him a hug. "Long time, no see."

"Tell me about it." AJ laughed. "So how've you been?"

"Not too bad, just trying to settle down to a domestic life as much as I can, whilst being famous." Seth sighed. "What about you?"

"I'm doing good, thanks. I went through that 'not wanting to be famous' phase a few years ago. You'll get through it." AJ patted Seth on the back and laughed.

"Yeah, I hope so."

"So, have you got a special someone yet?" AJ asked, hoping to get the answers he was looking for.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, no one knows who it is and I hope to keep it that way for now." Seth smiled. 

"Yeah, I understand." AJ felt awkward. He guessed that Seth was talking about Hunter and if that was the case, then two people already knew about it.

"What about you? Have you found anyone yet?" Seth asked.

"Nah." AJ sighed. "I've kinda got my eye on someone, but I'm not sure if I like them yet. It's complicated."

"Well, that's what love is. Complicated." Seth laughed. "Anyway, I'm gonna go start my workout. It was nice catching up with you, man. We'll have to do it again sometime."

"Of course, that'd be awesome. See you around." AJ smiled, leaving the gym and heading back up to his hotel room.

There was a nagging thought in the back of AJ's head. How did Seth, the innocent little boy from Iowa, betray his brothers? Talking to him just then made AJ realize that Seth was exactly the same person that he was when they met all those years ago.

Seth hadn't changed. He was still the 'friends and family come first' guy. It had to have something to do with Hunter.

__________

Once AJ got cleaned up, he made his way to Roman's room. He wanted to confirm his suspicion of Seth's relationship.

Dean was still asleep when AJ got there, so the two older men didn't bother going out into the corridor. Instead, they sat on Roman's bed.

"So, what news have you got for me now?" Roman laughed.

"Mostly, the same thing as last night." AJ smiled. "I saw Seth this morning in the gym and he said that he was dating someone, I'm guessing it's Hunter."

"Well, at least that's cleared up." Roman sighed.

"Yeah, but the thing is, when I was talking to him it was like he was the same person that he was before. He doesn't seem like a bad guy. I seriously think that the reason he broke up the Shield is because of Triple H." AJ exaggerated, wanting to get his point across. 

"Okay, but what do you want me to do about it?" Roman was confused at what AJ was trying to imply.

"I think you should talk to Seth and sort things out. Just so that you and Dean can go back to not having any 'enemies' y'know?"

Dean suddenly shot up out of bed and ran out of the room. Both AJ and Roman's eyes were wide with shock and worry. He had heard the whole conversation and he was not happy.

"Dean." Roman called out, standing up and running out into the corridor, but it was no use. Dean was already gone.

Roman made his way back into the hotel room.

"What should we do? Should I go after him?" Roman asked, worried for his friend. "He can't be on his own right now. He's too upset and fragile. God knows what he'll do."

"Roman." AJ placed his hands on Roman's shoulders. "Calm down, okay? Worrying won't get you anywhere."

"Okay." Roman took a few deep breaths. "But seriously, we need to find him."

"I know, don't worry. You get ready for work and keep checking your phone incase he rings you. I'll go and look for him, he couldn't have gone far."

"Okay, but text me when you find him." Roman sighed, still worried.

"I will." AJ promised, before leaving the room.


	5. United we stand, divided we fall - Part 5

AJ left the room and rushed around the hotel corridors. The hallways were in a circle shape with the elevators in the middle, so it was easy to find Dean.

He was sat, in the opposite corridor, against the wall with his knees pulled up to his chest. His head was down and AJ couldn't see his face, but he knew that the younger man was crying by the gentle shaking of his shoulders.

AJ promised to text Roman once he found Dean, so he sent him a quick text saying that everything was fine, before walking closer to Dean and sitting beside him. Their shoulders were touching.

"Dean? You alright man?" AJ asked in a soft and quiet voice, not wanting to startle his friend.

Dean didn't answer, but every now and then he would sniff. Eventually, the small crying turned into pained sobbing. AJ instantly put his arms around Dean and started rubbing his back, trying to sooth him.

"It's alright." AJ whispered into Dean's ear. "Let it all out."

The two men continued to sit in the corridor, in silence, until Dean calmed down. Dean moved to sit up straight, but AJ kept one arm around his shoulders to comfort him.

"I-I'm sorry." Dean sniffled, wiping away his tears.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, you haven't done anything wrong." AJ replied. Silence fell once again as the two men didn't know what to sat to one another. "What's wrong, Dean? Why are you so upset all of the time?"

"I don't know. I just am." Dean replied.

"There must be a reason for you to be so upset and distant, or something that triggered it." AJ said, encouraging Dean vent about his problems. "Maybe a certain person triggered it?"

Dean knew who AJ was talking about and he was glad that the older man didn't say his name. He couldn't stand to hear the name of his former friend, former brother. It sickened him.

"Maybe." Dean whispered back.

"Well, at least we're getting somewhere." AJ laughed, but the joke wasn't funny enough for Dean. He didn't even crack a smile.

"I don't wanna be like this." Dean sighed.

"What do you mean?" 

"Sad. All the time. It's tiring."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't like you being sad either and I know for a fact that Roman doesn't want you to be sad. We can help you, if you let us." AJ hugged the younger boy tighter than before to prove that he meant what he said.

"I just don't know how to stop being sad." Dean whimpered, tears rolling down his face once again.

"Talking helps." AJ replied. "If you ever want to get something off your chest, come and talk to me or Roman. We'll help you through it and we'll listen."

"Thanks." Dean sniffed. "You're really kind."

"I just want the old Dean back, the one that I've heard so much about. He sounds like a great person to be around. I really need to meet him." AJ smiled. This comment actually made Dean laugh slightly. It was a quiet laugh, but it was definitely there. 

"So, is there anything you want to talk about?" AJ asked.

"I don't know. Nothing just yet, I don't know if I can handle hearing it out loud."

"I understand, but promise me you'll tell someone soon. The longer you keep it to yourself, the worse it gets." AJ sighed.

"I will, I promise."

"Okay, well let's get you back to your room. We need to get to the arena soon."

The two men made their way back to the hotel room to find a slightly less worried Roman, sat on the bed.

Dean went into the bathroom to have a shower. AJ saw this as an opportunity to talk to Roman about what happened.

"Where'd you find him?" Roman asked.

"He was on the opposite side of the hotel, in the corridor." AJ replied. "I'm really worried about him. He told me that he was sad and that he didn't know how to stop being sad."

"That sucks. I wish he would just talk to me. I just want to help." Roman sighed.

"I told him that you and I would both help. I said to come to us if he needed to talk and he promised me that he would, so hopefully that will help him." AJ said, looking over to the bathroom door.

"I hope he lets me know what's wrong. I hate seeing him like this. It's like the happiness has completely drained from his body, he's not the Dean that I used to know."

"I know it's hard to accept that he's different now, but he'll be back to his happy self in no time. We've just gotta stay with him through all the hard times." AJ replied.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for all the help today." Roman smiled.

"No problem."

Once Dean got out of the shower, all three men headed to the arena for work. AJ and Roman made sure to keep Dean away from Seth as much as they could, but that was a hard thing to do when the two younger men had a match together.

After the show, Dean was quiet once again. It was as if every time he saw Seth, he lost the will to speak. 

The sadness was eating Dean up and he was slowly becoming more and more depressed. AJ could see it and so could Roman. They just had to wait until Dean was ready to speak and then they could help him and talk him through everything. 

It was only a matter of time.


	6. Getting to know you and your heart - Part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated this recently! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Dean and AJ had the next day off of work and decided to keep each other company, whilst Roman visited his family over in Florida.

So far the two men had ordered and ate breakfast together and they were currently sat on the hotel bed, watching some old wrestling matches including: Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker (Royal Rumble 1998) and Mankind vs The Rock (Royal Rumble 1999)

"Hey, did you know that The Rock is Roman's cousin?" Dean mumbled, his eyes wide as if he were nervous of AJ's reply.

"Really? I never knew that, but they do look alike." AJ laughed, causing some of the worry to disappear from Dean's face. "So, do you wanna do anything today? We could go out for some dinner if you want."

"Um, y-yeah. If you want." Dean replied. He had definitely become more talkative around AJ, but he was still very quiet and shy.

"Cool, do you have a place in mind? I fancy Seafood, maybe some Sushi. What about you?"

"Yeah, I like Sushi." Dean smiled.

"Awesome, at least we've got dinner planned." AJ said, smiling at the slight grin on Dean's face. "Hey, I was thinking about getting a tattoo. I don't know why, but do you wanna come to the parlour with me when I get it done?"

AJ really wanted to spend more time with Dean and get to know him, but he knew that Dean would want to know everything about AJ first, to gain his full trust. The tattoo parlour was the perfect place to go for that, since the tattooist always asks questions about your life to pass the time.

"Sure, w-when were you thinking of getting it done?" Dean asked, his voice was confident at first, but soon returned to it's shy tone.

"I don't know. Do you wanna go now?" AJ laughed, shocked by his own excitement.

"Now? Are you s-sure?"

"Yeah, why not? Let's get it done."

"Alright." Dean smiled slightly.

"I like it when you smile." AJ said, as he got up off of the bed. "You should smile more often." Dean was a little shocked by what AJ had said, but deep down he kind of liked the compliment.

"O-okay." Dean smiled, looking at the ground.

"Ready to go?" AJ asked, slipping on his shoes.

"Yeah."

"Alright, I'm driving."

The two men drove over to the tattoo parlour and looked through many different designs. AJ made sure that he took a good look at everything before finally deciding on two praying hands, holding a cross to symbolise his religion.

AJ, Dean and the tattoo artist Arnie, all went through into a private room. The stencil was placed on AJ's upper thigh and the process began.

"Now this is gonna hurt, is this your first tattoo?" Arnie asked, beginning to outline the tattoo.

"Yes it is." AJ replied, feeling slightly awkward because he only had his underwear and a t-shirt on. "But I'm ready for the pain." The small statement made Dean laugh.

"So, where are you from?" Arnie asked. The personal questions had begun.

"Well I was born in North Carolina, in the Marine Corps Base Camp, but I grew up in Georgia." AJ replied.

"You were born in a military base? That's hardcore dude." Arnie laughed.

"You betcha." 

"I've seen your face before, but I can't figure out how I know you." Arnie said, looking confused for a second before focusing on the tattoo.

"Well, you might know me from my wrestling background. If it's not that then I don't know where you've seen me." AJ chuckled.

"Oh yeah, you used to be in Ring Of Honor right?"

"Yeah I was."

"That's so cool, man." Arnie smiled. "How long have you been wrestling?"

"Oh Lord, almost twenty years." 

"That's crazy. You've been wrestling pretty much since I was born." 

"Oh wow, that makes me feel old." AJ smiled.

"How old are you?"

"Thirty Seven."

"Wow, you are old." Arnie joked.

The two men continued to talk whilst Dean listened to their conversation from the side of the room. This was all a part of AJ's plan. Dean could get to know him a bit more, without being pressured to ask AJ himself.

After another hour of sitting through pain, AJ's tattoo was finally complete.

"Keep the wrapping on it for the next two or three days. It'll probably start to swell up, but it will go down in a few days. Give me a call if there's any problems." Arnie said.

"Thanks man, it's awesome." AJ smiled, loving his tattoo already.

"No problem, catch ya layer."

__________

Dean and AJ left the parlour and made their way to the Seafood restaurant they were talking about earlier. They were both starving after spending so long in the tattoo parlour. 

They managed to get a table at the back of the restaurant, hidden away from everyone. They both ordered Sushi.

"Your t-tattoo looks awesome." Dean smiled, trying to keep his promise to AJ.

"Thank you." AJ smiled back. "I hope it wasn't too boring for you, just sitting there and listening to us talk."

"Nah, it was fine. I like to listen to people's conversations, I find it interesting." Dean said, as the waitress gave them their meals. "I can't believe you were born on a military base, how did that happen?"

"Well, my dad was a Marine and my mum lived in one of the little houses on the camp." AJ was glad that Dean took an interest to his childhood stories.

They ate their meal and ended up having dessert as well, since they were enjoying each other's company too much. Once they had finished dessert, they headed back to the hotel and put the TV on for some background noise.

"I really enjoyed today, thanks for taking me out." Dean said, hoping AJ felt the same way.

"Me too, we'll have to hang out more often."

"Yeah, I'd like that a lot." Dean smiled. "I think I'll be ready to talk soon, about everything y'know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. There's no rush, but just know that I'm always here for you, ready to listen."

"Thank you, you're such a great friend." Dean sighed. "I wish there were more people like you in the world."

"Well, thanks." AJ laughed. "You're a great friend too."

Dean simply smiled and AJ guessed that he was a little shy at the compliment. It was kind of cute, how shy he was around people.

"Anyway, we should get some sleep. Back to work tomorrow." AJ said, getting into his bed which was separate from Dean's.

"Yeah, we should. Goodnight." Dean whispered, tucking himself into the covers and closing his eyes.

"Night." AJ said back.

He couldn't help but to stare at Dean as he slept. This was the one time that Dean was completely calm. AJ eventually fell asleep with the comfort of Dean's presence in the room.


	7. Tides will bring me back to you - Part 7

Roman arrived back at the hotel the next morning to find both of his friends sleeping. He hoped that everything was alright with Dean, usually he only got along with Roman, so a day without him must have been a bit hard.

As Roman began unpacking his gym clothes, AJ awoke and greeted him. The two men sat next to one another on the hotel bed.

"So, how was Dean yesterday?" Roman asked, wanting to make sure everything was okay.

"He was fine I think. He came with me when I got a tattoo and then we went out for dinner. He's started talking a lot more around me, which is good." AJ said, stretching his body in hopes that it would wake him up more.

"Oh, that's awesome. I'm glad he has someone else he can trust other than me." Roman smiled. "What tattoo did you get? Can I see it?"

AJ laughed and lifted up his pyjama pants, showing Roman his tattoo. Roman's eyes lit up when he saw it, he had a thing for tattoos.

"Dude, that looks so good." Roman smiled.

"Thanks man, Dean helped me pick it out. It's a little sore though, I don't know how you got your whole arm and chest done." AJ laughed.

"Just gotta get through the pain." Roman replied. "Do you think you'll get any more done?"

"Probably in a few years." AJ shrugged. "I've got other things to worry about right now."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Roman sighed, looking over to Dean's sleeping frame. "I really hope he gets back to his old self soon, I hate seeing him like this."

"He'll get better. Like you said: Just gotta get through the pain."

"Yeah." The Samoan smiled. "He really likes you. I can tell by the way he looks at you. He trusts you."

"Well, that's great I guess. Thanks." AJ laughed.

"Do you wanna wake him up? We gotta get some breakfast before work." Roman said, not wanting to disturb the younger man's sleep.

"Not really, he looks so peaceful, but I guess I have to."

"You got that right." Roman smiled. "I'm gonna have a quick shower, I'll be back in a bit."

Roman made his way over to the bathroom to have his shower. Once AJ heard the water flowing, he got out of bed and made his way over to Dean.

"Dean?" AJ sat down on Dean's bed and gently shook the younger man's shoulder, causing him to stir. "Dean, it's time to wake up buddy."

"M'tired." Dean moaned, with his face half shoved into the pillow.

"I know man, but you need to eat some breakfast and then we gotta head to work."

"I'm too lazy, I'll eat at work."

"I'm not taking no for an answer." AJ said, jokingly. "Now come on, you need to get up."

"Okay, okay." Dean groaned, stretching slightly and sitting up against the headboard. "I'm cold." AJ lifted the duvet cover up to Dean's shoulders and tucked Dean in.

"Is that better?" AJ asked.

"Yes, t-thank you." Once Dean fully became aware of his surroundings, he became shy again.

"Cool, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Um, do they serve omelets?" Dean asked, trying not to fall asleep. He was cozy.

"Yeah, I think so. Do you know what Roman likes?"

"Anything with meat." Dean laughed.

"Alright, Bacon sandwich it is." AJ smiled, picking up the hotel phone and ordering breakfast. He decided to have an omelet as well.

__________

The three men ate their breakfast and made their way to work. They all had separate matches to wrestle and promos to shoot, so they didn't see much of each other during the afternoon.

Once work had finished however, AJ and Dean met up in the locker room and decided to get some dinner at a nearby restaurant. Roman didn't go with them, as he wanted to get an early night.

Dean and AJ arrived at the restaurant and were seated. They ordered their food, Dean ordering a steak and AJ ordering a chicken salad, and began to talk about work before getting into a more common conversation.

"So, how was your day?" Dean asked AJ, for some reason he was no longer stuttering.

"It was good thanks, how about yours?" AJ replied.

"Just the same as normal."

"Cool, how old are you if you don't mind me asking? I just realized that I don't know your age." AJ laughed.

"I'm twenty eight." Dean smiled.

"Wow, I really am old." AJ joked.

"Nah, you act like a cool young dude anyway, so you've got nothing to worry about."

"Why thank you, I think." 

Both men started laughing. Thier meal arrived and they continued to talk as they ate together. They also talked on the way home, but that conversation was mostly about how good the food was.

AJ didn't learn a lot about Dean, but he knew it would take time for the younger man to open up. Dean had already improved so much, since he had met AJ. What AJ did get to know about Dean however, was that his favorite thing to do was cuddle and that he had an unhealthy obsession of popcorn.

The two men arrived back at the hotel to find Roman sleeping on AJ's bed.

"Well, it looks like I'm sleeping on the floor tonight." AJ laughed, not wanting to disturb Roman's peaceful sleep.

"You can sleep in my bed if you want. I don't mind sharing with you." Dean said shyly.

"Oh no, I don't want to bother you. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"You won't bother me, I promise." Dean smiled.

"Okay then." AJ smiled back. "But we should probably brush our teeth first, that chicken salad had some garlic in it."

"Yeah, good idea." Dean giggled.

Both men finished getting ready for bed and got under the warm covers. AJ wasn't sure of Dean's boundaries so he decided to lie on the edge of the bed away from Dean.

"You can come closer if you like. You're gonna fall off." Dean whispered.

"Okay, but just tell me if I'm in your personal space." AJ replied.

"Will do." Dean said, turning to face AJ, getting as close to him as possible. "I'm cold."

"Well, you're already under the covers so I can't do anything else to help yo-"

Dean placed his arms around AJ's waist and rested his head on AJ's chest. AJ was shocked at first, but eventually hugged Dean back.

"Better?" AJ asked, laughing.

"Yeah, goodnight."

"Night."

Once the two men fell asleep, Roman rolled over with a slight grin on his face. He could see them hugging. He knew it would happen eventually, but he thought he would help speed up the process by stealing AJ's bed.


	8. A little love from the Candy man - Part 8

Dean awoke, his body full of warmth. He couldn't see anything when he opened his eyes, but he could feel the soft fabric of AJ's T-shirt against his face. He lifted his head slightly so that he could see.

AJ was still asleep, with his arms tightly around Dean's waist. Roman wasn't in bed, Dean guessed that he had gone to the gym. He hoped that Roman didn't pay too much attention to himself and AJ. It might be hard to explain their position without it sounding wrong.

Dean wanted it to sound wrong though. He wanted people know that him and AJ cuddled as they slept. For some reason, Dean wanted the world to know that he and AJ had shared a bed.

Everything was confusing for Dean, but he knew that he felt something towards the older man. He just couldn't figure out what it was yet.

It was easy to see that Dean was a lot more comfortable around AJ now. Infact, Dean felt like he was more confident around AJ than he was Roman. They had spent so much time together over the last few days and Dean loved every second of it.

It was a crazy feeling, knowing that even when you are at your lowest point in life, someone is always there to help you get back to the top.

Dean could see that AJ was starting to stir, so he pretended to be asleep whilst AJ awoke. The first thing AJ did when he woke up was let out a small laugh.

"I know you're awake." AJ said, his morning voice was very grumbly.

"How did you know?" Dean replied, smiling and moving his head to look up at AJ.

"Your breathing was different. When you sleep it's slow, but when you're awake it speeds up."

"Okay, Mr Scientist." Dean pouted, pretending to be upset by AJ knowing he was fake sleeping. "Just rub it in that you're smarter than me."

"Shut up." AJ laughed. "I am nine years older than you. I have old age wisdom."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. What do you want for breakfast? Wait, let me guess, Oatmeal? I know that you can't eat anything with chunks in it, it'll make your dentures fall out." Dean smirked. Old man wisdom, his ass.

"Excuse me, my dentures are perfectly secured in my mouth, thank you very much!" AJ said in a grumpy tone.

"Wait, you actually have dentures?" Dean asked, intrigued by the conversation.

"No I do not! I was just playing along." AJ replied, grabbing a pillow and hitting Dean's head with it.

"Hey, don't be a dick." Dean said, grabbing a pillow of his own and hitting AJ in the nuts, really hard.

"Oaw, what the hell?" AJ shouted, grabbing his man parts. "How am I gonna get it to work now?"

"Shut up, it's too old to work anyway." Dean grinned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh no Mister, you've gone too far. You're banned from eating popcorn for the next two weeks." AJ said seriously.

"What? No, I didn't mean it. I'm sure your dick works perfectly. Please don't deprive me of popcorn, I can't live without it!" Dean begged, getting up onto his knees and praying to the gods.

"Nope, you can suffer." AJ looked away from Dean, with attitude. He loved winding him up. "Unless..."

"Yes? Unless what?" Dean's eyes lit up.

"You come to my house on the weekend." 

"Of course, I can do that. Now give me popcorn." Dean smiled.

"Alright, that's sorted. There's some popcorn in my gym bag."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." AJ laughed.

Dean ran over to AJ's bag and rummaged through it, chucking AJ's clothes all over the hotel room, finding the delicious food. He opened the packet and grabbed a large handful, shoving it in his mouth.

Roman chose that moment to enter the hotel room.

"Hiy, Roomn." Dean mumbled through all of the sweet food in his mouth.

"Oh no, who gave Dean popcorn?" Roman asked, looking worried. AJ raised his hand slightly. "Dean, give me the popcorn."

"No." Dean said, childishly as he ran over to AJ and hid behind the older man.

"Dean, you can't eat that stuff, it makes you crazy." Roman sighed. "Help me out AJ?"

"Uh, I'm sorry man, but he earned it." AJ shrugged, not knowing what was going on.

"Dude, there's something in that stuff that makes Dean really hyper. He acts like someone who's just snorted three lines of coke." 

"What? Really? That's awesome." AJ laughed. "Eat the whole bag Dean."

"Thank you AJ, I will." Dean said snobbily. 

Roman spent a good hour trying to snatch the popcorn off of Dean, but he didn't succeed. When the three men got to work, Dean couldn't stop jumping up and down. He was very talkative and kept asking AJ if he had anymore popcorn. AJ just laughed it off.

"See what I mean?" Roman sighed.

"Yeah, I do, but it's kind of cool." AJ giggled.

"Wait til he crashes. I'm gonna leave you to pick up the pieces."

"Is it bad?" AJ was slightly concerned.

"Oh, it's real bad. Make sure you have a few spare tissues on you." Roman said, before leaving the room for his match.

__________

AJ understood why Roman didn't want Dean eating popcorn. 

He was currently sat on the bathroom floor, hugging a crying Dean. It had been like this for at least an hour and most of their co - workers had already left the arena.

Dean didn't speak, he just cried into AJ's chest.

It was unlike anything AJ had ever seen. A grown man crying, sobbing, over a sugar crash. The whole situation was bizarre, but for some reason AJ didn't mind it. He thought it was cute and he liked comforting Dean. 

Even during a moment as strange as this.


	9. Letting it all out - Part 9

Dean had calmed down a considerable amount after his sugar crash. There was no known reason behind how upset he got after eating popcorn, but Roman always thought it had something to do with the fact that Dean wasn't given anything sweet as a child.

AJ wasn't sure what was going through Dean's mind during his meltdown, he was sure that Dean wasn't just upset over the popcorn. It must have been something deeper.

Dean on the other hand, never remembered his sugar crashes and was usually smiling and happy after a good night's sleep, but that wasn't the case today.

It had been his first sugar crash since the Shield had broken up and he remembered every second of it. He was crying into AJ's arms, because he missed Seth and he was very confused about his feelings towards him.

He thought for sure that he was in love with Seth and always would be, but that thought seemed to be changing. Ever since he had met AJ, his mind had opened up more. He was starting to feel the same way about AJ as he once did with Seth.

Dean thought about this as he sat in AJ's car, which was driving down the highway. They were heading to AJ's house for the weekend and Dean couldn't wait. He was excited to have a few days to relax with AJ and no one else.

It was late at night when they got to AJ's house, so they both made their way to bed. Dean slept in the guest bedroom, but after a few hours he got into AJ's bed and claimed that he'd had a nightmare. AJ bought it and gave Dean a warm and comforting hug.

In the morning, they had breakfast and showered (separately) AJ took Dean to his games room and they ended up playing Mario kart for three hours straight.

The evening came quickly and the two men were sat on AJ's sofa, watching TV. Dean looked over to his friend and felt a strong urge to tell him how he felt, but he knew that it was a bad idea because AJ didn't know anything about his personal life, which was kind of important in a relationship.

Instead, Dean thought it would be a good idea to finally tell AJ about why he was so upset all of the time. Right here, right now, in the comfort of AJ's house, Dean was ready to talk.

"Hey, AJ?" Dean spoke up, not knowing how to start a conversation like this.

"Yeah, what's up?" AJ replied, glancing over at Dean.

"I think I'm ready to talk." Dean said, quietly.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel rushed into doing it."

"No, I'm ready."

"Okay, I'm listening. Just go along with what you want to say and don't push yourself to say things that you aren't ready to talk about." AJ smiled. He was such a kind person, Dean never wanted to leave his side.

"Well, when me and Seth were friends we kind of had this thing, where we were together but it was complicated. We slept together a lot, but no one knew about it and Seth had multiple girlfriends whilst we were doing it." Dean started, taking a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was telling AJ about this.

"It was a secret thing. We comforted each other when we were away from home, y'know?" AJ simply nodded and Dean continued. "It went on for three years and towards the end I started to see him as more than a friend, and I started having feelings for him, so when he betrayed the Shield it was almost as if he was breaking up with me because he knew how I felt about him."

"So you were heartbroken, but didn't tell anyone because the whole thing with Seth was a secret?" AJ asked, feeling sorry for Dean.

"Yeah." Dean sighed. "And also, I didn't want to tell Roman because he hated Seth for betraying us, but I still had feelings for him. After everything he did."

"That makes sense, I mean when you love someone that love doesn't just disappear when you break up. It takes time." AJ smiled sympathetically, placing his hand on Dean's shoulder.

"I know, it sucks."

"Do you still have feelings towards him now?" AJ asked.

"I honestly don't know. One day I'm head over heels for him and then the next day, I couldn't care less about him."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. If you ever need to talk about it then you know I'm here for you." AJ said, as Dean leaned in to hug him.

"Thanks AJ, you're the best."

"No problem, what are friends for? Do you think you're gonna tell Roman?" AJ asked.

"I want to, but I'm scared. He's my best friend and I've been keeping this huge secret from him for three years. What if he gets mad?" Dean said, looking concerned.

"I don't think he'll get mad. He told me once that he thought you and Seth had something going on between you two. Apparently it was obvious." AJ joked, nudging Dean's shoulder and making him laugh.

"Shut up." Dean smiled. "Um, I have a question that I've been wanting to asked you."

"What is it?" AJ replied.

"Well, do you remember that night when you were talking to Roman and I overheard some of the conversation and ran off?"

"Yeah?"

"You said something about Seth and Hunter dating. Was that true?" Dean asked, looking upset.

"Um, well I don't know for sure but I saw Seth and Hunter kissing and then the next day, Seth told me that he was seeing someone but he didn't say who."

"Oh." Dean sighed. "I guess it makes sense, y'know him joining the Authority because he's dating Hunter."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"Do you have any ice cream?" Dean asked, out of the blue.

"Depends, does ice cream make you hyper?" AJ asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"No it doesn't, I promise. It's only popcorn and some types of chocolate."

"Okay then, I've got strawberry or vanilla." AJ said, smiling.

"Strawberry please." 

The two men spent the rest of the night lying down on the sofa eating ice cream, whilst watching old, corny movies. 

Once bedtime came, Dean asked if he could sleep in AJ's bed again incase he had anymore nightmares. Obviously, the nightmare part was a lie, but Dean wanted to cuddle. The older man gladly accepted and they spent the night sleeping in the comfort of each other's arms.


	10. 'Save it for the bedroom.' - Part 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to update and sorry it's so short! I've started college now so my main focus is my homework and my other fanfiction. I'm hoping to finish my other story this week, so that I can put my full focus on this one. I apologise in advance for the long wait for chapters. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

The weekend had passed quickly for both AJ and Dean. They were now back at work, wrestling their butts off to put on a good show. 

Since Dean's confession to AJ, Dean had become a lot more confident around people. He started talking to some people in the locker room, before RAW and it sounded like he enjoyed getting involved with every bodies conversations.

AJ guessed that Dean's sudden confidence boost had come from the massive weight that had been lifted off of his shoulders. Talking about his past with Seth had made him realize that he no longer had those feelings for the younger man.

Once RAW had finished, Dean and AJ were walking down one of the many corridors of the arena to go to the hotel, when they saw two familiar figures walking ahead of them and holding hands. The fact that Dean didn't get upset by Seth and Hunter's love, showed that he had improved a lot and moved on.

"AJ?" Dean whispered, as they neared closer to the couple.

"Yeah?" AJ whispered back.

"Will you hold my hand? I want to see what Seth's reaction is." Dean grinned.

"You really are the dirtiest player in the game." AJ laughed, taking a hold of Dean's hand and swinging their arms around. "You wanna make him jealous?"

"You read my mind."

AJ's smirk grew wider, as what he was about to do would probably make Seth very uncomfortable.

"Oh Dean, I can't wait to take you back to the hotel room and lay you down on the bed." AJ said really loudly.

Seth turned his head around as he walked, to see what was happening behind him. He was shocked however, when he saw AJ lean forward and kiss Dean on the lips. What shocked him even more was that fact that Dean kissed back. Seth was sure that Dean had become shy and quiet around people and here he was sucking AJ's face off.

A mix of anger and jealousy washed through Seth's body. Dean's lips were once his and the thought of someone else touching them made him mad, but he pretended not to care. He had Hunter now.

"Hey Hunter, get a look at this." Seth murmured, as his boyfriend turned his head to look at what had caught Seth's attention.

"What are they doing?" Hunter asked, slightly disgusted.

"They're kissing." Seth stated. "What do you think they're doing?"

"Hey, no public affection at work." Hunter yelled, causing the two men to pull apart.

"That's very hypocritical coming from you. You and Seth kiss at work all the time." AJ shot back as he looked at Seth's worried face.

"I thought no one saw." Seth whispered to Hunter.

"Well, just keep it behind closed doors please." Hunter replied to AJ's previous comment. "C'mon Seth, let's go."

The couple started walking away and left the arena. AJ still had his hands on Dean's waist and had him pushed up against the wall, but he was facing in the direction of where he had last seen Seth. 

Dean stared deeply into the side of AJ's head, not knowing why he suddenly had such a strong urge to kiss the older man again. He grabbed AJ's head in his hands and turned it so that they were facing one another. Dean leaned in and placed his lips on AJ's, feeling his stomach flip from happiness.

The two men shared a heated kiss for the second time, until it was rudely interupted by a certain Samoan.

"Whoa there guys. Save it for the bedroom." Roman smirked, as he walked past.

"Shut up." Dean retorted, laughing slightly himself.

Roman knew that this was bound to happen eventually. He was just happy that it progressed sooner rather than later. He was getting tired of waiting.

"Hey Dean, just ask him out already." Roman shouted from the end of the corridor, before leaving the arena.

"Wait, do you think of me in that way?" AJ asked. Dean started to feel nervous.

"Um, yeah but you don't have to feel the same way. It's cool." Dean said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, I uh. I think I feel the same way." AJ replied with a smile on his face.

"Really?" Dean asked, his face lit up like a kid's on christmas day.

"Yes, really." AJ laughed. "So, are you gonna ask me or what?"

"Oh right." Dean cleared his throat and straightened up. "AJ, will you be my boyfriend?"

"Well, I dunno. I'm not sure if I can fit it into my schedule."

"Just say yes, ya douche."

"Fine, okay. Yes I will be your boyfriend." AJ smiled.

"Good, now let's go find that bedroom Roman was talking about." Dean smirked.

"I think that's a great idea." AJ replied, kissing Dean once again.

The two men travelled back to the hotel. They didn't plan on doing anything sexual so early on in the relationship. They just wanted to cuddle up and watch movies until they fell asleep.

It didn't take long for the two of them to fall asleep. They were both tired after working so hard during their matches, especially AJ who wanted to prove himself to the WWE universe.

Dean awoke in the middle of the night, with his head buried in AJ's chest. He smiled knowing for a fact that he could get used to the comfort of AJ's warm body surrounding him. He couldn't wait for AJ to wake up, so that he could hear his beautiful morning voice.

Things may have been a bit rushed between Dean and AJ, but Dean felt that it was better that way. If they hadn't of started dating today, then they probably would've never gotten together.


	11. The calm before the storm - Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I would like to give credit to ambreigns_asylum14 (on wattpad) for giving me the idea for this chapter. It is greatly appreciated! The other ideas that I got will all be used in the upcoming chapters, they are all very similar and I love them all. Thank you for your help! Thanks for reading and enjoy! PS: Who do you guys want to win at BackLash?

The next morning was the same as every morning. Dean and AJ woke up, ate breakfast and went to work. Everything was the same as it always was.

AJ had a match against Chris Jericho later on in the night, and spent some time getting ready with Dean. They did the usual routine of push ups, sit ups and jogging up and down the stairs of the arena. 

Dean's match was against Kane, one of the members of the Authority. Dean was pretty confident leading up to his match, he had wrestled Kane many times before and he wasn't worried about losing. 

Everything was going fine, but that sadly had to change.

After both men's matches, all chaos broke out. Hunter was running around the arena manically, shouting for Dean and AJ to come to his office immediately. The two men were oblivious to what was going on, but obeyed the orders of their boss.

Once they got to Hunter's office, they both sat down and realized that Seth was in the room as well. His eyes were red and puffy. He looked like he had been crying. There was also a red mark on his cheek, in the shape of a hand. Dean looked at him, slightly confused as to why he had a mark on his face. He hadn't had his match yet.

"So boss, what can we do for you?" Dean asked smugly, he was definitely back to his old self.

"What can you do for me? I think you've done enough!" Hunter shouted, slamming his fists on the desk and making Seth jump.

"What are you talking about?" AJ asked, disgusted and confused with Hunter's attitude.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about." Hunter growled, giving Dean and AJ a dirty look.

"I honestly have no idea and I'm sure Dean doesn't know either." AJ replied, arms crossed.

"This morning, Wrestling News reported that me and Seth were dating. You two were the only ones who knew about us." Hunter breathed heavily and angrily. "Why did you expose our relationship?"

"What are you going on about, we haven't said anything to anyone about your stupid relationship!" AJ shouted. "Why would we?"

"I don't know, why would you? Was it for the money? Did you want to humiliate us?" Hunter snarled.

"We didn't want to do any of that, and if you were in a happy relationship then you wouldn't be humiliated by this." Dean stepped in.

"So you admit to it?" Hunter asked, a slight sickening smile on his face.

"No, I didn't say that." Dean growled back.

"Look Hunter, we didn't out your relationship. There's no reason for us to do anything like that, we can see that you and Seth are happy together, why would we wanna ruin that?" AJ questioned, hoping to reason with the boss.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because Seth broke Dean's little heart and he wanted to get revenge?" Hunter mocked in a saddened baby voice.

"You told him about us?" Dean asked, shocked.

"I-I" Seth lowered his head and looked at the floor. He didn't want to be a part of this conversation. Hunter had already gotten mad at him for holding his hand yesterday.

"You really are a scumbag." Dean mumbled. "And I wouldn't want to get revenge on you, I'm over all that."

Hunter sighed not knowing what else to say. He knew deep down that Dean and AJ were to blame, but he didn't know how to get them to confess.

"Well, since you don't wanna tell us the truth, you two can leave." Hunter sighed once again. "But this is not over."

"Whatever." Dean mumbled, as he stood up out of his chair and left the room. AJ followed him and they ended up back in the locker room.

"What the hell was that all about? Why'd they want us to take the blame?" AJ asked looking rather annoyed with everything that had just taken place.

"I have no idea, but it's probably because of yesterday, when we saw them holding hands." Dean replied.

The two men got changed out of their ring gear and made their way back to the hotel. Once they got to their room, Dean text Roman and asked him to come over. The Samoan got there within a minute.

"You will not believe what just happened." Dean said, as soon as he opened the door to let Roman in.

"Why? What happened?" Roman asked, sitting down on the bed next to AJ.

"Did you hear about the whole Hunter and Seth thing?" AJ asked, still feeling frustrated from the earlier happenings.

"Yeah, what was all that about?"

"Well, we saw them holding hands yesterday and now Hunter is convinced that we outed them to the public." Dean sighed.

"Really? Wait, so they're actually together?" Roman looked confused.

"Yeah, remember when I told you I saw them kissing?" AJ said, surprised that Roman could forget something like that.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. That's crazy."

"I know." Dean replied. "But Hunter is blaming us and I don't know what to do about it."

"Just tell him you didn't do it." Roman shrugged.

"We tried that. Didn't believe us." AJ replied, getting under the duvet.

"That sucks. I'm gonna back you two anyway, I know you wouldn't do something like that and so does everyone else in the locker room. I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you."

"Thanks Rome." Dean smiled.

"No problem, what are friends for?"

"Buying ice cream?" Dean suggested, craving the sweet taste.

"No." Roman replied, amused.

"Oh come on Rome, please?" Dean begged, doing his best impression of a pouty face.

"Fine, I'll buy you ice cream. What flavour?" 

"Mint chocolate chip, but only because Seth hates it and I hate him right now."

"You're crazy." Roman laughed. "I'll be back in a minute."

Dean and AJ got comfy in the hotel bed and stuck a movie on the TV. When Roman came back, they all ate the ice cream and watched the movie, before going to bed.

Dean wasn't sure what would happen with the whole Hunter and Seth thing, he just hoped it wouldn't ruin what mattered most to him in life. His job, his friends and of course, AJ.


	12. The man I used to know - Part 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Eevee and another person on ao3, who doesn't have an account, (You know who you are haha) for giving me some of the ideas for this chapter. Massive plot twist at the end btw! Thanks for reading and enjoy!

(Flashback to the previous day, when Hunter found out that his and Seth's relationship had been outed to the public)

Seth didn't know it would cause this much trouble. He didn't want to hurt Hunter, he loved him. He just wanted everyone to know about their relationship, wanted Dean to know about their relationship.

Seeing Dean and AJ kissing in the hallway had broke Seth's heart. He didn't want to stop seeing Dean, but Hunter made him. Hunter loved him and Seth would do anything for him, even if that meant ruining his 'relationship' with the only one he ever really loved.

Seth was jealous to say the least and he wanted to make Dean jealous in return. He was sleeping with the boss, a rich man. Nobody could top that. Well, apart from maybe, everyone.

Hunter was currently running around, screaming his head off at anyone who got in his way. He was looking for two men in particular, two innocent men. Seth tried to stop him, convince him that it wasn't Dean and AJ who did it, but it didn't work.

Dean and AJ had seen the couple holding hands the day before. That was all the evidence Hunter needed to prove them guilty.

After a long twelve minutes, Hunter arrived back in his office, breathing heavily out of his nose.

"Did you find them?" Seth asked quietly, not wanting to further upset the older man.

"Yes I did, they'll be here in a minute." Hunter mumbled.

"I still don't think it was them." Seth whispered, trying not to sound guilty himself.

Hunter snapped. He ran towards Seth and slapped him, hard in the cheek. Seth fell to the ground caressing his sore face, tears brimming in his eyes.

"This is your fault!" Hunter shouted. Seth started to worry, did he know? "If you didn't force me to hold your hand yesterday then none of this would have happened."

"I-I didn't force you." Seth cried out.

"Yes you di-"

There was a knock on the door. Dean and AJ had arrived. Seth wiped his tears away, as Hunter pulled him up to his feet.

"Come in." Hunter yelled, pretending as if nothing had even happened.

__________

Dean awoke early the next morning. He looked over to the left side of the bed to see AJ sleeping, with his head shoved in the pillow and his legs spread out wide. Dean laughed at his boyfriend's random sleeping positions.

Roman had left, late last night to go back to his hotel room. He planned on taking both Dean and AJ to the gym before work, since they had eaten so much ice cream last night.

Dean sat up against the headboard and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He had one message, from Seth. The fact that Seth had text him, confused Dean. They were not on speaking terms to say the least. Dean read the text and didn't know what to think of it.

'We need to talk. Please?'

Underneath the writing was an address to an apartment. Dean guessed it was Seth's new 'home.'

Since he really didn't feel like going to the gym today, Dean decided to visit Seth and see what he wanted. He would give him ten minutes to talk and then he was leaving, no matter what.

Dean gave AJ a gentle kiss on the forehead and left him a note, saying that he would be back soon, before leaving the hotel room. He wasn't really sure what to expect from Seth, he just hoped it wasn't about the whole 'Outing Hunter and Seth' thing.

Once Dean got to Seth's apartment, he walked straight in not bothering to knock. If Seth was allowed to casually text him, then Dean was allowed to casually walk into his apartment.

Seth was in the kitchen, mixing up some raw eggs when Dean walked in. The older man decided to make Seth jump by sneaking up on him.

"Boo!" Dean shouted, slapping his hands on Seth's shoulders.

"What the fuck!" Seth shouted out, surprised and close to wetting himself. "Ambrose, what the hell?"

"Don't start asking me questions, that's my job." Dean smirked, wanting to annoy Seth as much as he possibly could. "You've got ten minutes to talk. Why did you want to see me?"

"Oh, um well-"

"Great start." Dean said sarcastically.

"Shut up." Seth mumbled. "It's just that, I miss you a lot."

"Really? Hold on a second. You, miss me?"

"Yes, but it's more than that. I miss being with you." Seth sighed, putting on a saddened face.

"Don't even go there Rollins. You're the one that left me for that stuck up, goofball. If you miss me then too bad."

"Dean, please listen to me." Seth begged. "I don't think you should be with AJ, he's-"

"Whoa, hold up! You have no say in my relationship." Dean said, shocked at Seth's attitude.

"But, he's not what he says he is!" Seth rushed out, his breathing speed picking up.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, slightly confused.

"He's playing an act. He pretends to be friendly and he pretends to love you, but he doesn't. He just wants to use you!"

"Shut up! You know nothing about him." Dean shouted, starting to get angry.

"Yes I do!"

"What, three years of wrestling together in the indies and you suddenly know everything there is to know about each other?" Dean snarled, disgusted at Seth.

"I know enough about him to know that he's evil." Seth growled.

"Oh yeah? And what did he do to poor, little old Sethie? What evil things has he done to you?" Dean pretended to wipe his eyes in concern for Seth.

"H-he." Seth looked down at the floor, not knowing whether or not he should say what he was about to say. Would Dean buy it?

"Come on, don't be shy. Talk to momma Dean."

Seth started to cry. Tears ran down his face as he sobbed, fake sobbed, to make everything look more realistic.

"Seth?" Dean asked, actually looking slightly worried.

"I-I'm sorry. I just f-find it hard to talk about." Seth cried out, covering his face with his hands.

"Hey, it's okay. You can tell me, I promise I won't get mad at you." Dean soothed, giving Seth a comforting hug. He really hated the guy, but Dean couldn't stand there and watch him cry.

"It's just, w-when we were younger we d-dated for a few w-weeks." Seth started, stuttering from the sobs.

Dean was shocked to hear that Seth and AJ had once dated, but he guessed that it wasn't anything serious since Seth said it had only lasted for a few weeks.

"Yeah?" Dean said, encouraging Seth to continue.

"Well, after a week or two AJ wanted to move forward in our relationship. But, I-I wasn't r-ready. It was my f-first time and I was really young and he was ten years older than me, but I didn't want t-to upset him so I said yes."

Dean had a bad feeling about this story, but he allowed Seth to continue talking.

"H-he started doing things to me a-and I didn't l-like it. I asked him to s-stop, but he didn't." Seth cried even louder than before, burying his head into Dean's chest.

Dean didn't want to believe him. He was a lying scumbag after all, but there was something telling him that Seth was right. Surely he wouldn't lie about something that bad, right?

"So, he raped you?" Dean asked, his voice void of emotion. Seth simply nodded his head.

The one thing Dean knew he had to do, was get AJ's side of the story. He trusted AJ more than anyone else. He just wasn't sure if he could trust him on this.


	13. Night of the Hunter - Part 13

Dean arrived back at the hotel after a very tense and emotional visit with Seth. AJ was in the shower, when Dean entered the hotel room. He didn't know how to approach the situation. He was 100% sure that AJ didn't do it, but he still wanted to ask for his side of the story.

Five minutes had passed and Dean was starting to feel nervous. He didn't want to have this conversation with AJ. What if he got mad at Dean for asking and then broke up with him? AJ wouldn't do that, right?

The shower cut off and Dean started to panic, he couldn't do this. He quickly left the hotel room and walked down the silent hallway until he found Roman's room. Maybe a bit of friendly reassurance would help.

Roman let Dean into his hotel room and he could instantly tell that something was wrong.

"What's up, Uce?" Roman asked, taking a sip of his morning coffee.

"I'm really confused right now." Dean sighed, focusing on the wall in front of him. He felt like he was going to throw up.

"Why, what's happened? Is it something to do with AJ?" Roman didn't like the distant look on Dean's face.

"Kind of." Dean mumbled.

"C'mon man, tell me what's wrong. I know you didn't come here to stare at the wall." 

"It's just- I went to Seth's place this morning-"

"What? Why would you go there?" Roman asked, confused.

"He asked me to go there. He said he wanted to talk." Dean replied, sounding even more upset than before.

"What did he want to talk about?"

"He said that he missed me and then-" Dean sniffed, trying not to cry. "He said that AJ was just using me."

"Dean, you know Seth is just bull crapping you right? AJ's not using you." Roman butted in, angrily.

"Yeah, but then he- he said that-" Dean couldn't finish the sentence.

"What did he say?" Roman rubbed Dean's back soothingly, trying to calm the younger man down.

"H-he said that him and AJ used to date a long time ago, and that AJ r-ra." Dean started to cry, the thought of saying that word brought him to tears.

Roman could guess what Dean was trying to say, by the start of the word. He didn't believe it at all. AJ wasn't like that and Roman would stand up for AJ no matter what.

"Dean?" 

"Yeah?" Dean replied.

"Did you hear about that article that Seth was in a few years ago?" Roman asked, remembering a certain event about Seth.

"No, what article?"

"Well someone, I can't remember his name, wrote an online article talking about how Seth had blackmailed him and claimed that he had raped him. Seth's just doing it all over again, I wouldn't believe him if I were you." Roman said, looking completely serious.

"Wait, what do you mean? When was this?" Dean asked, shocked and confused.

"It was two or three years before the Shield got together. I remember reading it about a month before the break up. I confronted him about it and that's when he started to become distant towards us." Roman sighed.

"Oh." Dean didn't know how to react. "Do you think I should ask AJ for his side of the story, just incase?"

"You can if you want too. At least then you can be sure that it's not true."

"Yeah, you're right. Thank you." Dean gave Roman a hug and wiped away his tears, before leaving the Samoan's room and returning to his own.

AJ was lying down on the bed when Dean got back. He was reading a wrestling magazine that he had found in the locker room the night before. He looked up to see Dean standing in the doorway, a smile appearing on his face.

"Hey, where have you been all morning?" AJ smiled, getting up off of the bed and giving Dean a hug. "I missed you."

"Yeah, I missed you too." Dean replied, giving AJ a quick kiss on the lips.

"So, what's up?" AJ asked. "You seem upset."

"No, I'm not upset. I'm just a bit worried about asking you something."

"Don't be scared, I don't bite. Unless you try to break up with me, then I will bite." AJ laughed, causing Dean to smile slightly. How could someone so innocent do something so horrible? Seth must have been lying.

"Well, um. It's kind of personal I guess, and it's a bit crazy." Dean said, trying to give AJ a warning.

"Don't worry, I don't mind."

"Okay well, earlier this morning I went to see Seth because he said that he wanted to talk to me." Dean started, sighing before continuing. "He um, told me about you guys being together when you were younger and then he said that you, um-"

Dean hesitated for a minute. AJ gave him a reassuring nod, giving him the confidence to continue.

"Now, before you hear this I just want you to know that I don't believe him. I just want to know your side of the story."

"Okay." AJ replied.

"Seth said that you raped him." AJ's eyes went wide.

"What?" AJ shouted.

"I know, it's crazy. I just want to know for sure if it's true or not." Dean said, not wanting AJ to react badly. "I trust whatever you say."

"Well, that didn't happen." AJ started. "I don't know why he would say that but I would nev-" AJ stopped talking for a second. He covered his face with his hands and started to cry.

"Hey, it's okay. I believe you. Please don't cry." Dean gave AJ a hug and rubbed soothing circles on his back.

"I'm sorry." AJ sniffed. "I just got scared that you would break up with me."

"Don't be stupid. I would never break up with you because of some lying weasel." Dean smiled, reassuring AJ. "And even if you did do it, which I know you didn't, I would probably still be with you because I know that you've changed a lot since then. Nothing could take me away from you. I love you too much."

"I love you too." AJ smiled, his head buried in Dean's chest.

It then hit Dean that this was the first time he had ever seen AJ cry. It pained him to see his loved one so upset. He made a promise to himself, right there and then, that Seth would pay for what he had done to AJ.

__________

The two men met up with Roman and made their way to work. AJ was still a bit upset about what Seth had said about him, but he somehow managed to hide his tears.

Dean asked Roman to stay with AJ, in the locker room whilst he went on a search for a certain someone. He was on a mission to find Seth and give him a piece of his mind.

Seth wasn't hard to find. He was stood outside of his locker room, texting someone on his phone. Dean walked up to him from behind and grabbed his phone, throwing it across the hallway.

"Hey, what the heck are you doing?" Seth shouted, turning around to see a very angry Dean.

"What am I doing? Well, I'm not lying about someone raping me that's for sure!" Dean shouted.

"I didn't lie about it-"

"Yes you did! And you tried to blackmail someone else a few years ago, so that gives me even more of a reason to believe you're lying."

"I swear, I didn't-"

"Shut up!" Before he realized what he was doing, Dean swung his arm around and punched Seth in the face.

Seth gasped and dramatically fell to the floor. Tears fell from his eyes, but Dean could tell they were fake.

"Hunter! Hunter!" Seth screamed. 

Just as Hunter was running round the corner, Seth pulled Dean ontop of him, so that it looked like Dean was beating him up.

Hunter pulled Dean off of Seth as quick as possible. He became angry when he saw the blood running from Seth's nose.

"That's it Ambrose, you've gone too far. You and AJ in a match tonight against me and Seth. No disqualification. If you lose, both you and AJ are fired!"


	14. No friends, just family - Part 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is so short, I'm sorry about that but I've been so busy lately. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! Also thanks to Ambreigns_asylum14 (Wattpad) for the idea of the first part!

Word about what had happened, spread around the locker room fast. Everyone knew about the match between Dean, AJ and Triple H, Seth.

Dean had come storming into the locker room, swearing loudly and hitting the door. Roman and AJ rushed over to him to calm him down and see what was wrong.

"Baby, what's wrong?" AJ asked, holding Dean's upper arms to stop him from hitting things.

"Well, I punched Seth and then he pulled me on top of him and called for Hunter, so when Hunter got there it looked like I was beating the crap outta him. I wasn't by the way." Dean rushed, out of breath.

"Okay, did anything happen after that?" AJ asked, not seeing the first part as anything to be mad about.

"Yeah, Hunter said that he's putting you and me in a tag match tonight against him and Seth. If we lose the match, we lose our job."

"What?" AJ shouted, confused that Dean could say that sentence so casually. "We could lose our jobs? Why have I been brought into this?"

"I don't know, probably because you're my boyfriend." Dean shrugged. "I need to go for a walk and calm myself down. I'll be back in a few minutes." Dean sighed, grabbing his jacket and leaving the room.

Roman had been silent the whole time, trying to process everything. How could Seth frame Dean like that? Especially, after what he said about AJ. His behaviour was unacceptable and he needed to be taught a lesson.

Roman left the locker room, walking past a confused AJ, and set his sights on finding the lying weasel. He knew it was probably a bad idea to do this, since Hunter had already threatened to fire two people today, but Roman was gonna do it anyway. Nobody messes with his family.

That's right. AJ was now a part of his family. His brother in law.

Seth was stood outside of the arena, completely alone. Now was the perfect time to do it. Roman ran up behind him and hit him in the back of the head, causing him to fall face first onto the ground.

"Ow, what the-"

"Shut your damn, mouth." Roman growled. "You've gone too far this time."

Roman kicked Seth in the ribs numerous times, before picking him up by the hair and dropping him back down to the floor again.

"You mess with Dean or AJ again, I'll make sure that you'll be stuck in a hospital bed for the rest of your life."

Seth looked up at Roman in shock. He didn't know how to react, he was in too much pain.

"And you make sure that Dean and AJ win that match tonight, otherwise I'll let Hunter know about all the lies you've been telling." Roman mumbled, giving Seth one last kick in the rips before walking away.

He met up with Dean on the way back to the locker room and pretended like nothing had even happened.

AJ was pacing around the room when Dean and Roman arrived. He was freaking out about the tag match, not know what him and Dean were going to do if they lost. Surely Hunter would have something up his sleeve, to make sure they didn't win.

Dean walked over to AJ and stopped him from pacing.

"Calm down, man. What's bothering you?" Dean asked, not as worried about the match as he first was.

"I'm just nervous about this stupid match. It's obvious we're going to lose." AJ sighed. His dream of becoming WWE World HeavyWeight Champion was over.

"I wouldn't worry about the match, if I were you." Roman smirked, with a smug look in his eyes.

"Wait a minute, have you done something?" Dean asked, smiling from ear to ear.

"Maybe." Roman said, walking away from the conversation.

"Well, there you go. No need to worry about it." Dean smiled, linking arms with AJ. "Now, let's go get some lunch, I'm starving."

Dean and AJ went to catering and got some lunch, sitting on a table at the back of the room. Seth walked into the canteen minutes later, holding an arm around his stomach with a frown on his face.

"He looks terrible, what did you do to him?" AJ asked, looking at Dean in a 'teacher telling off a young student' way.

"I didn't do that!" Dean replied, eyes widened, mocking shock. "How could you accuse me of such a thing? I only punched him once."

"That's still bad."

"He deserved it after what he said about you." Dean retorted, stuffing his face with noodles.

"Well yeah, but that still doesn't explain why he looks so rough." AJ said. "Stop eating like a pig."

"I'm your boyfriend, you're not allowed to tell me what to do. And does it really matter whether Seth's okay or not?" Dean asked, not caring about the younger man.

"He is human. You've gotta give him some sympathy."

"Nah, that's what Hunter's for."

"I guess." AJ sighed, looking down at his food. "We should probably make our way to the gorilla. Our match starts soon."

"Yes! I can't wait." Dean smiled, a sadistic look on his face.

"Are you crazy?" AJ couldn't believe what Dean was saying.

"Well, duh." Dean rolled his eyes.

"C'mon." AJ sighed, wanting to get the match over with. It could be the last WWE match he ever competed in.

The two men made their way to the gorilla position, greeted by a few referees and Roman. AJ was freaking out about the outcome of the match. He didn't understand why Dean was so calm.

He looked over to see his boyfriend looking off into the distance, he followed the line of sight to see Roman staring back at Dean. AJ couldn't quite make out what expressions the two men had on their faces, but it looked like they were about to cause trouble.

The ring announcer and referee made their way out to the ring and started announcing the match. That's when AJ's music came on.

He opened the curtain and faced the world.


	15. Biting the curb - Part 15

All four men were in the ring. The match had started no less than thirty seconds ago. As soon as the bell had rung, Dean pushed Seth over onto the mat and started delivering punches. AJ on the other hand, was wedged in between the turnbuckle and Hunter's body.

After a few more minutes of punches, Dean flung Seth over the top ropes and started throwing him into the barricade. AJ and Hunter were now the two legal men.

Hunter wasn't messing around. He went straight in with the big moves. He threw AJ into the ropes and delivered a bulldog as AJ bounced back. Meanwhile, on the outside of the ring, Dean was on top of the announce table with Seth. Seth's head was in the perfect position for a Dirty Deeds, so Dean went for it.

Hunter started shouting insults at Dean from the ring once he saw Seth, collapsed on the announce table holding his head.

Dean ran back into the ring to help AJ, who was bleeding from the head after Hunter had punched him with a pair of brass knuckles. Dean pushed off against the ropes and delivered a clothesline to Triple H, knocking him down to the mat.

Dean then exited the ring, only to enter it again once AJ had tagged him. Hunter was getting up from the mat, so Dean elbowed him in the back of the head and put him in the figure four submission hold. 

Hunter was about to tap, but Seth came running into the ring to break the submission. AJ jumped off the top rope and elbowed Seth in the face. Dean and Hunter were the legal men.

The Lunatic Fringe went to deliver another clothesline, but got stopped by Hunter who grabbed him around the waist and slammed him into the mat. Triple H stayed on Dean and started punching him. He went to pin Ambrose, but AJ broke it up by hitting Hunter with a chair.

Seth was furious at AJ, so he grabbed a fire extinguisher from under the ring and threw it at AJ's head when he wasn't looking. AJ collapsed to the mat, completely knocked out. It was now two on one.

Seth and Hunter were ganging up on Dean, whilst AJ was being taken out to the back, still out cold. The fans were starting to worry. They didn't want the match to end and they certainly didn't want Dean or AJ to lose their jobs.

Roman was watching from the gorilla position. Once he saw AJ being rushed to the medical room by the referees, he made his way out to the ring. The crowd went wild when they saw him.

Roman ran into the ring and grabbed Hunter by the shoulder. He threw him over the ropes and started fighting him out into the crowd.

Dean saw this as his opportunity. Seth had set him up for the Curb Stomp, but Dean countered it into a Dirty Deeds, pinning Seth for the three count.

The relief that flowed through Dean's body was unreal. He had saved both his and AJ's careers.

__________

After the match, Roman ran back into the ring to give Dean a hug and walk with him to the back. They both ran to the medical room to see AJ. He was lying down with an ice pack underneath his head. 

"Hey, are you alright?" Dean asked, rushing over to his loved one's side and holding his hand.

"Yeah I'm fine. What happened?" AJ asked, not sure how he got here.

"I'm not sure, I didn't see." Dean replied, sighing.

"Seth threw a fire extinguisher at your head." Roman said, walking closer to the two men.

"He did what?" Dean was angry. That could have killed AJ.

"Oh, no wonder my head hurts. Did we win?" AJ asked, not really bothered about the pain in his head.

"Yeah we did." Dean smiled. "With Roman's help."

"Thank the Lord." AJ groaned. "And thank you, Roman." A huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"No problem man, I couldn't stand there and watch Dean fight on his own. That wouldn't be fair." Roman replied, smiling. "Anyway, I'm gonna get changed. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Call me if you need me."

"See you Rome, and thanks." Dean smiled. Roman left the room.

"I was so worried about you, I didn't know what happened. You were just knocked out on the mat with referees surrounding you." Dean said, sounding upset. 

"You don't have to worry about me." AJ replied. "I'm fine."

"I know, but I'll always worry. I love you." Dean gave AJ a small kiss on the lips.

"I love you too." AJ replied.

The trainer came into the room a few minutes later and checked Dean, whose shoulder was playing up. Luckily, nothing serious had happened. He just had to tape it up. AJ on the other hand, had a severe concussion and would have to take the next three weeks off.

"That sucks." AJ sighed, walking out of the arena with Dean's support.

"I know, but at least you're not dead." Dean replied.

"I guess."

The two men arrived back at the hotel, exhausted from the night they'd had. Dean tucked AJ into bed and played with his hair until he fell asleep. It was weird thinking that AJ wouldn't be able to wrestle for the next few weeks.

Dean decided to take a quick shower before getting into bed, his body was aching. The hot water helped to relax his muscles and he was able to fall asleep, as soon as his head hit the pillow.

AJ woke up in the middle of the night, his head feeling sore. The pain intensified after being awake for a minute. His head was burning in agony. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He had had many concussions in his lifetime, but this one felt different. Something wasn't right.

AJ started to panic, his breath picking up. He scooted over to Dean and started nudging him, trying to wake him up. Dean started to stir.

"Whaaa?" Dean moaned, too tired to open his eyes.

"Dean, please wake up." AJ pleaded, his voice pained. Dean's body instantly shot up once he heard AJ's voice.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked rushingly, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"No." AJ whispered. "I think I need to go to the hospital."

"Is it your head?" Dean asked, panicking.

"Yeah." AJ gasped in pain.

"Okay, I'm gonna call Roman and get him to drive us there." Dean said, knowing he would need to comfort AJ at all times.

Roman picked up quickly. He was a light sleeper.

"Hello?" Roman greeted.

"Roman, something's wrong with AJ. Could you take us to the hospital please?" Dean begged, panicking even more when he saw AJ's eyes roll to the back of his head. "Shit, AJ wake up. Fuck!" 

"I'll be right there." Roman hurried, not sure what was going on.

Roman ran to Dean and AJ's room, the door was unlocked. Dean was ready to leave. He was carrying AJ in his arms, bridal style, a paled look on his face.

"We need to go, now." Dean ordered.

"Yeah." Roman replied.

They got to the hospital in less than ten minutes, Roman was speeding the whole time. 

Once they arrived, numerous doctors came rushing over to them worried about the unconscious man in Dean's arms. 

AJ was placed onto a stretcher and rushed away by the doctors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the person who gave me the idea for the match! You know who you are :) Hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading!


	16. In bloom - Part 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! :)

Dean was sat next to AJ, who was lying down on the the hospital bed. It was now the early hours of the morning. 6:53 am to be exact. AJ had woken up two hours earlier, feeling a lot better that before.

The doctor who had been caring for AJ had just walked into the room, carrying a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Good morning, Mr Styles and Mr Ambrose." The doctor smiled. "I've got an update on AJ's condition and I would like to talk through what the problem was." AJ was quick to talk.

"Am I gonna die?" AJ asked, currently in pain from another headache.

"Oh no, definitely not." The doctor laughed. "Your condition is nothing serious. I believe that you are aware of the concussion you have?"

AJ nodded. "Yeah, but this one feels different to the ones I've had before."

"That's understandable. We've run some tests and found out that your body went into a delayed shock. That must have been a nasty hit to the head. The reason for this only happening on this occasion, and not on any previous occasions could be because of your age." The doctor explained.

"Oh, okay. So will it happen again?" AJ asked, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I don't think so. Your body has now become used to the pain it is feeling, so there should be no more episodes of shock. We'd be happy to discharge you from the hospital within the next hour. We've just got to sort out your medicine prescription, it's just some strong painkillers. Take two a day for the next week and you should feel a lot better." The doctor smiled. 

"Alright, thank you doctor." AJ smiled back.

"Yeah, thanks doc." Dean spoke up, relieved that there was nothing seriously wrong with AJ.

"No need to thank me boys, just doing my job. I'll be back in an hour to sign all of your papers." The doctor said, leaving the room.

Roman picked his friends up from the hospital an hour later, and dropped them off at the hotel. Dean decided to take the day off from work to look after AJ.

__________

Once they were settled back into the hotel bed, Dean and AJ decided to catch up on some much needed sleep and then ordered some brunch. They both had blueberry pancakes and fruit smoothies.

AJ had already started to feel better after having something to eat and was begging Dean to take him out somewhere. Today was the perfect day for a date, since they both had the day off.

"But, you've got a severe concussion dude. I can't take you out on a date." Dean laughed at AJ's stupidity and desperation.

"Yes you can. I already feel better and I can take one of my painkillers before we leave. We could go watch a movie and then get some lunch." AJ argued, not wanting to be stuck in the hotel all day.

"Okay, but promise me you'll tell me if your head starts hurting?" Dean gave in.

"I promise." AJ smiled. "C'mon let's go."

"Alright, let me stand up first." Dean laughed. "What are we going to watch anyway?"

"The Equalizer just came out yesterday. That looks good." AJ suggested.

"Okay, that's a gory film right?" Dean asked, not knowing if they should be watching a gory movie on their date, but agreeing anyway.

"Yeah, it is. Why? Are you scared of a little gore?" AJ mocked, chuckling.

"Have you watched my old CZW matches?" Dean joked, in return.

"Yes, and I'm glad you don't work there anymore. Those matches were scary."

"They weren't that bad." Dean scrunched up his face, trying to make AJ laugh.

"Dude, they were horrifying!" AJ replied. "Anyway, we should leave. Don't wanna miss the movie."

"What time is it on?" Dean asked.

"In like, thirty minutes." AJ replied.

"That's cool, no need to rush." 

"Well, I wanna get a drink and some popcorn. You know what that queue is like."

"That's true my dear friend, let's get going." Dean smiled, putting on his jacket.

The two men left and made it to the cinema just in time. After the film they went to a pizza parlor for lunch. 

"Hey, what happened to me last night? I can't really remember." AJ asked, taking a bite of his pizza.

"I'm not really sure man." Dean laughed. "You scared the life out of me, for one."

"Yeah, but when did I pass out? I don't remember passing out."

"Um, well you woke me up and then I called Roman to take us to the hospital and that's when you passed out. You scared me so much. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head, and I freaked out." Dean replied, eyes wide as he described the event.

"Aww I'm sorry I scared you." AJ pouted.

"That's okay, as long as you're alive I don't care what you do to me." Dean smirked.

"There's a few things I wanna do to you, actually." AJ said, suggestively.

"Oh really? And what are those things?" Dean asked, playing along.

"Well, maybe if you took me back to the hotel I could tell you." AJ said, hinting at one thing in particular.

"Deal." Dean moaned, finishing off his pizza and leaving some money on the table.

The two men got back to the hotel and headed straight for the bed, kissing as they walked. Dean lay on top of AJ, kissing and leaving marks all down his neck and chest.

"Oh, Dean please." AJ moaned.

"Please what? What do you want me to do?" Dean asked, seductively.

"Fuck, I want you to ride me." AJ gasped, fully aroused.

"No problem, baby." Dean growled.

The rest of the night went relatively well. Dean and AJ finished off their 'alone time' and managed to get dressed just before Roman entered the hotel room, unannounced.

The three men watched a movie and ate some snack, before Roman left and Dean and AJ went to bed. Cuddled up in each other's embrace.


	17. The sadness will never end - Part 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a plot twist this chapter. The idea for this chapter and the next 2 chapters is from Ana on ao3. It is very appreciated! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! Also, did anyone see AJ sitting on Dean's face when he pinned him on SmackDown?

AJ awoke to an empty bed. He reached his arm out to feel that Dean's side of the bed was cold, he must have woken up a while ago. AJ's first guess was that Dean was in the shower, but he couldn't hear the running of the water.

His next guess was that Dean was at the gym, getting ready for work, but his gym bag was still at in the hotel room and it looked untouched. Maybe he was just getting some breakfast if so, then why didn't he wake up AJ and invite him to go?

It was a mystery and AJ had no clue what was going on. He decided not to worry. Dean could look after himself and he doubted that anything bad had happened to him. It was very unlikely.

Only then did AJ realize that his head really hurt. There was no way he was getting out of bed today. He grabbed his painkillers off the bedside table and took one. Roman then walked into the hotel room.

"Hey man, what's up?" Roman asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Not much, only just woke up. Have you seen Dean today?" AJ asked, slightly startled by Roman's random entrance.

"Nah, I haven't. But I got a text from him at like 4 am, saying to come check on you in the morning, so here I am." Roman shrugged. "You know what Ambrose can be like. He wonders all over the place."

"Yeah I guess, but usually he tells me where he's going." AJ sighed. "I told myself that I wouldn't worry, but now I'm starting to panic a bit."

"Don't worry. He'll be fine. Probably just at the gym or something." Roman replied, trying to calm his brother down. "Are you gonna come to the show tonight? Dean's supposed to have a revenge match against Seth."

"No, I'm probably gonna stay in bed. My head is killing me."

"Did you take any painkillers?" Roman asked, not wanting AJ to be in pain because of that weasel named Seth Rollins.

"Yeah, but they haven't kicked in yet." AJ replied, feeling nauseous. 

"Well, I can order you some breakfast if you want?" Roman suggested.

"No thanks. They smell of the food will make me vomit."

"Jesus AJ, you're not pregnant." Roman laughed, at AJ's moaning.

"Shut up." AJ mumbled, covering his eyes with his arm.

"Alright, I've gotta go. Call me if you need anything okay?" 

"Thanks Rome. Just keep a look out for Dean." AJ sighed, deciding that he was going to go back to sleep once Roman left.

"I will do, man. Hope you feel better soon." And with that, Roman left.

AJ was out for the count as soon as the hotel door shut. He wasn't tired, but he knew he couldn't deal with the pain. He hoped to see Dean when he awoke.

__________

Eight hours earlier.

Dean felt something pull at his arm. At first he thought that it was AJ, pulling him in for a cuddle, but the action was too forceful. He looked up to see a tall, large figure.

He kicked his legs out and started throwing punches, but the person was too strong and ignored Dean's small attempt to escape. As they were leaving the hotel room, Dean grabbed onto the door handle hoping to long out the process and catch the attention of a passer by. 

But it didn't work. The man hit Dean, really hard, in the back of the head. He passed out instantly. 

__________

When Dean awoke, he was in a dark, damp and cold room. The floor he sat on was made out of concrete, and the walls were just bricks and wooden panels. There were a pair of stairs on the opposite side of the room, making Dean guess that he was in someone's basement.

The door at the top of the stairs opened and a man started to walk into the room. It was only then, that Dean realized he was tied to one of the wooden panels, when he tried to stand up and attack the man.

He moved his body around quickly and violently, in hopes to loosen the rope that was holding him in place, but it didn't work.

The man reached the last step and finally reached the bottom of the stair case. He was wearing a suit and was rather large. Dean looked up to the guy's shadowed face, trying to figure out who it was, but the darkness of the room made it too hard to see.

The man cleared his throat and then began to speak, making it clear to Dean as to who he was. Hunter.

"Hello Dean." Hunter greeted, sounding un-entertained. "Before you freak out, I'm not going to hurt you. I have better things to do. I just want to teach you and your 'boyfriend' a little lesson. This should scare the both of you into leaving me and Seth alone."

Hunter started walking towards Dean, hands behind his back, trying to look innocent but evil at the same time. He crouched down in front of Dean's face and gave him a grin.

"AJ can learn to live without you. I wouldn't worry about him. You just have to live the rest of your life in this basement, which probably won't be very long. Deal?" Hunter smirked. "What am I talking about? You don't have a choice, you're staying in here whether you like it or not."

Hunter then began to laugh and started to make his way up the stairs.

"Wait." Dean shouted, voice weak.

"What?" Hunter replied, sounding disgusted at Dean's voice.

"Can I at least text Roman and ask him to check on AJ in the morning? His concussion is pretty bad." Dean asked, desperate.

"I'll text Roman, don't worry about it." Hunter said, leaving the room.

Dean didn't care about what happened to him. He just hoped that AJ was okay.


	18. Stab you in the front - Part 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Ana for giving me this idea :) Thanks for reading and enjoy!

AJ hadn't heard from Dean all day. He had called him numerous times and even visited his workplace, despite his nagging concussion. Roman hadn't seen Dean either.

The unannounced disappearance, the text message and the day off work just didn't make sense. Something wasn't adding up. Something was extremely wrong.

AJ had bumped into Hunter during his small amount of time at the arena. Luckily, Roman was with him so nothing happened, but the smirk on Hunter's face made AJ's stomach churn. Had he done something to Dean? He was definitely someone who would do something crazy.

Seth would be lying if he wasn't worried about Ambrose. He didn't know if anything had happened or not, but he saw the worried look on AJ's face along with the smug look on Hunter's. He would find out what was wrong sooner or later. Hunter told him everything.

AJ was now back at the hotel, waiting for Dean to walk through the door. It didn't happen though. There had been no appearance from the man for almost twelve hours. 

A wave of nausea circled AJ's stomach. What if Dean was in trouble? What if something really bad had happened to him? AJ tried to call his boyfriend again, but he got no answer. 

He couldn't deal with the disappointment of Dean not answering. It was all too much for him. He could only think the worst. AJ decided to call Roman and invite him over to the hotel room, for some company. He needed the reassurance of his brother right now.

Roman arrived at the hotel room within minutes. He to was really worried about Ambrose. It wasn't like him to disappear without notice.

When he got to the room, AJ was crying. Roman went over to him and gave him a brotherly hug for comfort. 

"It'll be alright. He'll turn up eventually." Roman sighed, not quite believing if he was right or wrong.

"If he does co-"

"When. Not if, when." Roman butted in. It had only been a day and AJ was already thinking about Dean's death.

"Okay then." AJ sighed. "When he comes back, won't he get in trouble for missing work?"

"That's what I was thinking about earlier. Not the fact that he'd get in trouble, but the fact that he's missing work." Roman replied, his stomach filling with butterflies at the though of Dean being gone for so long.

"Yeah, that's not like him at all." AJ cried. "I just want him to come back."

"He will, I promise. If he's not back by tomorrow then we'll go looking for him, okay?" Roman asked, trying to comfort AJ but also trying to comfort himself.

"Yeah, we will. Thanks Roman, you're a good friend." AJ smiled, feeling a little better, but still unable to get rid of the nagging feeling in his head and stomach.

"I try my best." Roman laughed, giving AJ another hug.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

\----------

Earlier that evening.

Seth was convinced that Hunter was up to something. He was acting a little stranger than usual and when Seth had mentioned Dean's name earlier, Hunter had started laughing in a menacing way. When Hunter got home, Seth was going to confront him. 

Seth felt rather strange. He was sitting on the sofa, in his house, on his own but he felt like he was being watched. He felt like there was someone else in the house. He shrugged off his thoughts and started reading a book.

Hunter got home around about an hour later, looking tired and stressed out from a long day at work. He had to finish some paperwork for NXT, meaning he had to stay and do overtime.

Seth closed the pages of his book and got up to greet Hunter.

"Hey babe." Seth smiled, giving his boyfriend a hug.

"Hey, Sethie." Hunter growled. "I've had a long, hard day at work and I need you to help me cool down."

Seth bit his bottom lip, loving what his other half was talking about, but he couldn't get distracted. He needed to ask him the question that had been burning in his mind all day.

"I'll help you later on." Seth said, hesitantly. "But right now, we need to talk."

"What is there to talk about?" Hunter asked, sounding rather frustrated. He had expected Seth to agree to his previous demand.

"What are you hiding?" Seth asked, voice serious. "I know you're hiding something and I know it involves Dean."

"Really Seth? Stop being so paranoid. I've done nothing with Dean." Hunter replied with a smirk on his face, looking guilty.

"You're lying." Seth said, his voice darkening.

"I haven't done anything bad to Dean, I'm just teaching him and his boyfriend a lesson."

"What are you talking about? Where is he?" Seth asked, desperately. 

"Nowhere you need to worry about."

"Is he in the house?" Seth questioned, panicking slightly.

"Look Seth, this is none of your business so why don't you just do what I say and make me happy." Hunter yelled. Dean could hear every word being spoken, from his place in the basement.

"No, I'm not sleeping with you! You're sick in the head. Now, show me where Ambrose is so I can let him go." Seth shouted back.

"Do you really think I would tell you?" Hunter smirked.

Seth had a feeling that Dean would be in the basement. It was the only place that no one ever visited. He stepped backwards slowly, towards the basement door and rushed to open it.

Hunter grabbed his arm aggressively and pushed him against the wall.

"Get off of me." Seth shouted, trying to free himself.

"No, don't disobey me. Go upstairs!" Hunter roared, his face red with anger.

Hunter loosened his grip on Seth's arm and pushed him towards the stairs, but Seth quickly turned around and ran for the front door. He opened the door and started running down the street. Hunter for some reason, didn't chase after him.

Seth knew that he couldn't do this on his own, so he rushed to the hotel that all the wrestlers were staying at, and got the information, from the receptionist, of AJ's room.

He made his way to the room and knocked twice, out of breath from running.

The door started to open slowly, Roman's face appeared through the small crack.

"What do you want?" Roman asked in disgust, about to close the door.

"I know where Dean is." Seth rushed out, panting like crazy.

Roman's eyes widened and he opened the door up fully to reveal himself and AJ stood in the room. AJ stepped forward, in shock from what he had heard.

"You know where he is?" AJ asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah, he's at my house but I can't get him out. Hunter won't let me. I need your help." Seth replied, looking upset whenever he talked about Dean.

"How do we know you're not lying? Is this some kind of trap?" Roman asked, he'd never fully trust Seth after everything that had happened between them.

"It's not a trap, I promise. That's all I've got, I can't prove that I'm not lying, I have no evidence. I can try and get him out myself, but Hunter is too strong for me." Seth said, looking rather defeated whenever he said Hunter's name.

"I believe you." AJ replied. "It's the only hope we've got. We'll talk about a game plan on the way there. Let's go." 

AJ grabbed Seth's arm and pulled him along the corridor. "Lead me to your house." He said.

"Okay, it's about a fifteen minute walk." Seth replied.

"I have a car." Roman butted in. 

"That'll be faster." Seth said, happy that he didn't have to walk any further. "I've already got a plan, but you have to listen carefully."

"Don't worry, we're listening."


	19. Gold Medal Ribbon - Part 19

"So what's the plan?" AJ asked, as the three men made their way to Hunter's house.

"Okay, so you guys stay outside of the house whilst I go in and distract Hunter. There's a window next to the front door that you can look through. When you see me and Hunter going upstairs, wait thirty seconds and then enter the house." Seth said, trying to remember every detail.

"That's good so far, but where do me and Roman go?" 

"I think Dean's in the basement. There's a door next to the staircase that leads to the other staircase to the basement." Seth replied, thinking back to earlier on in the afternoon. "When I tried to go into the basement earlier, Hunter freaked out and pulled me away, so it would make sense for him to be there."

"Okay, what do we do once we've found him?" Roman asked, from the driver's seat.

"Get him out of the house straight away, no matter what his condition is and drive back to the hotel. Call the cops once you get to the car." Seth said, feeling butterflies in his stomach. His idea of distracting Hunter wasn't something he wanted to do, but he knew he had to make sacrifices.

"What about you? How are you gonna get out?" AJ asked, slightly concerned. He had taken a liking to Seth over the past three minutes.

"I'll stay at the house, so that Hunter doesn't get suspicious." Seth replied. "It doesn't matter what happens to me, the main focus is Dean."

"Yeah, but I don't want you getting hurt. What if the police arrest you? They might think you were in on it with Hunter."

"I'll be fine. I'm big enough to fight my own battles." Seth smiled. "Thanks for the concern though, it's definitely not needed. I don't deserve it."

"Don't talk like that. Everyone deserves to be worried about and cared for, not matter what they've done wrong." AJ smiled back. "Anyway, we're here now."

"Okay, just do as I said and hopefully everything goes to plan." Seth said, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for what might happen.

"Be safe everyone." AJ said, copying Seth by taking a deep breath. "Let's get my baby back."

__________

The three men made their way up to the house, making sure that Hunter wasn't looking out of the windows. Roman and AJ took their place at the window near the front door and Seth entered the house.

"Hunter? Are you home?" Seth called out, hoping that the older man wasn't still mad at him.

"I'm in the basement." Hunter shouted back.

"Alright, can I come down there?" Seth asked, cautiously.

"Yeah." 

Seth made his way to the basement stairs and walked down them carefully. He was scared of what he might see. What if Dean was badly hurt? Hunter was stood at the bottom of the staircase smirking at Seth as he joined him.

"Hey baby, have you calmed down from earlier?" Hunter asked, acting all kind and sweet.

"Yeah I have, sorry about that." Seth apologized, not sorry in the slightest but it had to be said.

"Good, and I accept your apology." Hunter grinned, pulling Seth into an embrace.

That's when Seth saw Dean, curled up on the floor and tied to the wall structure with ropes. Seth gave Dean a reassuring look. Dean instantly knew what that look meant. Someone was coming to save him.

"Hey Hunter, maybe we should go upstairs for a bit and... y'know." Seth smiled, his hands moving down Hunter's front towards his growing bulge.

"I think that's a great idea, Sethie." Hunter replied, picking Seth up so that he could wrap his legs around Hunter's waist.

Hunter carried him up the basement stairs and then up the regular stairs, to their bedroom. Roman and AJ saw this and waited thirty seconds, just like Seth had said, before entering the house. 

They guessed that the basement was the room that Hunter and Seth had just came out from, so they rushed down the stairs and instantly saw Dean. AJ's eyes started to water at the exhausted sight of his loved one, but he kept the emotions in so that he could save Dean.

They ran over to him and started untying the ropes, wrapped around his body. It took a while for him to realize who his rescuers were, but once he saw their faces he broke out into a quiet laugh.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to find me. Hurry up and untie me, I'm starving." Dean said, smiling slightly even though they were still in a dangerous place.

"Always got something to say haven't you Ambrose?" Roman smirked. "Glad we've got you back."

AJ didn't say anything, he was too focused on the whole situation to even open his mouth. He was just glad that Dean was alive and unharmed.

The three men were just about to start their climb up the stairs when they heard a loud smash of glass and a shout from Hunter.

"Why won't you do what I say you useless piece of Shit? You're the one who asked for this!" Hunter screamed from two floors up. AJ cringed at the thought of Seth getting hurt in order to help them out.

"C'mon, Seth told us to leave as soon as we got Dean. He can look after himself." Roman sighed.

"Yeah, let's go." AJ replied, putting one of Dean's arms around his shoulders and hurrying up the stairs.

Once they got out of the house, AJ put Dean in the back of the car. Roman wanted to make sure Seth would be okay. He hated the man, but he didn't want him getting hurt for them. He was the one who made finding Dean possible.

"You drive him back to the hotel. I'm gonna stay here and call the cops, I can explain everything to them." Roman said, giving AJ a pat on the back.

"Alright, see you in a bit." AJ replied, driving off.

Roman heard more screaming, but this time it was coming from Seth. Screams of pain. There was more glass smashing and loud banging noises, but Roman couldn't bring himself to stop it. One part of him wanted to help Seth, but the other part wanted him to feel the pain.

The best thing he could do would be to call the cops. They would sort everything out.

The police arrived ten minutes later, the screams and cries were still echoing from the house. The officers ran into the house, one of them stopped to talk to Roman. He told them about what happened with Dean and also about the beating Seth was currently getting.

Hunter was getting carried out of the house in handcuffs, kicking and screaming. The officers chucked him into the police car and locked him in there.

"We need to call an ambulance, there's a young man in the house who's in bad shape." One of the officers called out.

An ambulance arrived and Seth was taken out of the house on a stretcher. Roman wasn't too concerned.

The police and ambulance left the property and started to sort everything out. Meanwhile at the hotel, Dean was enjoying stuffing his face with food.


	20. Traveled all these miles just to get back home - Part 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it! The last chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who read and supported this story. I couldn't have done it without you. Hope you enjoy!

One week later. 

Everything had settled down over the past week. Dean wasn't bothered by what had happened, he just wanted to eat as much food as he possible could, when he got back to the hotel. He didn't even care that he had just been kidnapped by his boss.

AJ took extra care of his boyfriend, making sure that he was safe every second of every day. He was very protective of Dean, maybe a little too much, but he was just worried and still in a state of shock.

Roman had been in contact with the police and managed to find out that Hunter had been arrested and had to await trail for the verdict. He was charged with kidnapping his employee and for domestic abuse against his partner, Seth.

Speaking of Seth, no one had heard from him since that day. Roman had told AJ that Seth had been taken to hospital, but AJ chose to ignore it. He didn't want to worry Dean and risk the chance of Dean sympathizing with Seth and leaving him to be with his first true love.

It was a cruel thought to think, but AJ's head was all over the place right now. He wasn't going to lose Dean again.

"How did you guys find me?" Dean asked, as he sat on his and AJ's shared hotel bed eating his breakfast, Roman was sat on the sofa opposite. He had been wanting to ask this question for a while, but was scared that it was too soon for AJ.

"Well, Seth told us where you were. He probably planned the whole thing to make himself look like the hero." AJ groaned. He didn't know why he was being so mean to Seth, but a part of him told him that he deserved it after what the younger man had said about him.

"Don't be stupid. Seth's not that crazy." Dean laughed. The whole thing was a joke to him.

"How did he know where you were then?" AJ asked, meaning for it to be a rhetorical question.

"Maybe because Hunter told him?" Dean replied, wanting to put things straight. "I heard them talking about it. The walls are paper thin in that house. Seth asked about me, because he had seen you and Roman looking worried earlier on in the day. Hunter freaked out at him and when Seth tried to open the basement door, Hunter threw him against the wall." 

"It's still weird that Seth wanted to help us out. He hates us." AJ sighed, not wanting to believe Dean's side of the story.

"He's an idiot, but he would never let anybody do something so cruel to another person. That's why he helped you."

"I guess that makes sense. I'm just glad you're okay." AJ smiled, pulling Dean in for a hug.

"C'mon guys, I'm still here. No hugging." Roman joked, a big smile on his face at how cute the couple were.

"Shut up Rome, you're just jealous." Dean smirked. "What happened to Seth anyway? I didn't see him when we left the house."

"He was upstairs distracting Hunter." Roman replied, knowing that AJ wouldn't tell him the truth about the hospital. "He got taken to hospital once the police arrived."

"Why?" Dean asked, concerned. "What happened?"

"Hunter beat him up. I don't know why."

"Hey AJ, do you remember when we got called into Hunter's office for that relationship reveal thing?" Dean asked, a thought occurring in his mind.

"Yeah, what about it?" AJ questioned, wondering why Dean was going back to that.

"Seth looked like he had been crying and his cheek was red. Do you think Hunter's been hurting him?"

"I don't know, but that's none of our business. Hunter's locked away now so Seth is safe. Don't worry about it." AJ replied, wanting to get this conversation over with. He was fed up of talking about Seth.

"Yeah, you're right. He's safe now." Dean sighed, relieved.

"What should we do today?" AJ asked, looking over to Dean. Dean had been given two weeks off from work as an apology for Hunter's actions, along with a pay rise.

"Well, I've got work so you guys are on your own." Roman said, laughing and groaning at the same time. He wanted to have a day off.

"Yeah, I now that." AJ laughed back. "You poor thing."

"I don't care what we do. I'm happy to stay in all day." Dean shrugged, not bothered about what happened.

AJ's head had gotten better over the past week. His concussion wasn't as bad as it was, but he still had a week and a half to kill before going back to work.

"How about we stay in all day and then go out tonight? We could go star gazing." AJ joked, pretending to be all lovely dovey. The thought of all that romantic stuff made him nauseous. 

"Okay, let's do that." Dean grinned, knowing AJ hated the idea.

"Oh, um okay if you want." AJ was speechless, why did he suggest that?

"Well you two love birds, I'd love to stay but I have to go to work now. Behave yourselves." Roman sighed, getting up from the sofa.

"Don't worry Ro, we won't do anything bad." Dean replied. "I'll see you later, have a good time at work."

"Thanks man. See you later guys." Roman waved, exiting the room.

__________

The day went by quickly. Dean and AJ spent the whole day lying in bed, cuddling and watching movies. It was their usual thing to do when they were off work. They ordered room service for lunch and ended up having a heated discussion about who was a better wrestler out of the two of them. Dean won, since AJ was too lazy to argue.

It was now late at night and the two men were lying next to one another on the grass of a rather tall hill. The hill over looked the city, giving the men a lovely view. The stars were particularly bright that night.

"Where do you see yourself in ten years Dean?" AJ asked, feeling relaxed as he looked up at the stars.

"I see myself right here, lying next to you." Dean replied, feeling just as calm as AJ. "What about you?"

"The same thing really. But maybe by then we could have our own house, and get married. I wanna main event WrestleMania as well." AJ smiled.

"Well, I'm gonna main event it with you." Dean smirked. "You're not living my dream without me."

"Don't worry, I would never do that." AJ replied, loving the moment they were creating.

"Good." Dean sighed, in a relaxed way. "I love you."

"I love you too." AJ said, resting his head on Dean's chest. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Me too, it's gonna be great. I'm gonna drive you crazy." Dean laughed, light heatedly.

"Yeah you are, but I'll love every second of it." AJ smiled, giving Dean a kiss on the cheek.

"Y'know, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect person." Dean said, holding AJ tighter. "I'm so lucky to have you."

"The same goes for you. God must be thanking me for all the times I attended church instead of going to training." AJ laughed, thinking back to his younger days. "You mean everything to me. I love you so much."

"I love you too, more than anything in the world. Nothing will ever ruin us." Dean whispered, looking at AJ.

"I'll always be yours." AJ replied.

The two men shared a small kiss, before looking back up at the stars.


End file.
